Sify News 
 
Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 13: A picture of Jesus Christ with beer can in one hand and a cigarette in the other has appeared as the cover picture of an official journal of a local Catholic diocese here.

The irreverent depiction of the Christ appeared in June issue of the magazine Vachana Jyothis, the official journal of the Latin Catholic Diocese of Neyyattinkara near here.

The issue has sparked strong protests from the faithful in the area among whom the journal is circulated. The shocked diocesan authorities ordered indefinite suspension of the journal after issuing an apology for the "big mistake."

Bishop of the diocese Dr Vincent Samuel had ordered an internal inquiry into the matter, a diocesan spokesman said.

"It is a great mistake, we admit. It should not have happened. It came as a shock to us and we are deeply apologetic about it," a church spokesman said when asked about the faux pas.

The editorial board of the journal had on it both priests and lay people. But priests mostly verify articles and other contents of the journal while selection of cover and pictures for inside pages were done by lay people, church sources said.

"We have been publishing the journal for 12 years. But this sort of a thing has never happened. We will ascertain how it happened, and, whoever did the mischief would be dealt with sternly," the spokesman added.